Teso
Oxen Re-stocking Project
Background
Uganda suffered appalling decimation during the Amin years, 1971 - 1979, and the subsequent Obote years, 1981 -1985. In 1986 President Yoweri Museveni was elected and the country has, by and large, enjoyed an increasingly stable peace.
The region of Teso lies in central eastern Uganda and has a rural population of 610,000. Its main town is Soroti and it relies upon agriculture for its livelihood. It is an area where oxen have been traditionally used for many years for cultivations and where the people are familiar with the principle of co-operation. During the Amin/Obote years, however, 95% of the oxen were destroyed by army operations. 200,000 people were also displaced during this period.
Peace was gradually restored in the mid 1990’s and the people of Teso were able to start re-building their lives.
How TORP works
The scheme was devised by Soroti Baptist Church in 1995 but is open to people of any, or no, faith or denomination without discrimination.
The aim: to improve the agricultural production of the area by the re-introduction of oxen for draught ploughing and cultivations. It takes 10 labourers five days to hand-break one acre of land. One man with a pair of oxen and a plough will do the same work in 2 days. Tractors are extremely expensive and inappropriate because of their high running and maintenance costs. Increased agricultural production gives subsistence farmers the ability to pay for education and medical help. It is the key to a better living. It breaks the 'poverty trap'.
The means: by providing pairs of oxen, each with a plough, to each assist 4 families.
With £250 FOAG can: buy one pair of oxen (in eastern Uganda)
buy one single furrow plough (assembled in Soroti)
pay for experienced Ugandan veterinary supervision for 3 months
The ownership of each pair of oxen, plus plough, is shared between 4 families (beneficiary groups). Each beneficiary group is expected to repay the £250 over two years. The repaid money is then used to buy another pair of oxen for another group of 4 families.
The administration: each beneficiary group of 4 families is responsible to their Village Parish Committee. Each Parish Committee is responsible to the Project Organising Committee based in Soroti. It is the task of this small body to implement and supervise the whole scheme - to control finances, to select, visit and advise families, to monitor veterinary oversight and to discipline if, and when, necessary. John Echeru, of Soroti Baptist Church is the administrator of the scheme. He is assisted by Leo Dijkman who looks after the accounts.
What has been achieved to date
FOAG started assisting financially in late 1997 and at 1st June 2003 oxen numbers stood at:
Orungo 21 of which 10 were bought by repayments
Katine 41 of which 16 were bought by repayments
Olwelai 42 of which 16 were bought by repayments
Amoru 28 of which 8 were bought by repayments
Apapai 28 of which 25 were bought by repayments
Total 160 of which 75 were bought by repayments
i.e. approximately 640 beneficiary families
At that point, in June 2003, Teso was subjected to major insurgency by the Lord’s Resistance Army forcing much of the population north of Soroti into hiding or into large refugee camps. Much damage was caused to the oxen scheme but this paled into insignificance in comparison to the suffering of so many innocent families. During 2005 most of the displaced people returned to their villages and TORP sought to pick up the threads and re-start in three of the original five villages. At the same time we funded a new scheme in Awoja, just south of Soroti, and Otatai nearby. Despite the disappointment of setback FOAG has taken the view that the project was working well and that the Teso people who were innocently caught up by the LRA’s invasion should be encouraged to re-build for their future.
Since then we have continued to support the Project in two ways:
a) By paying for administration on the ground. John Echeru (co-ordinator) and Leo Dijkman (auditor) are each paid 150,000 Ush/- salary per month (approx £50.00 each ). FOAG also bears various incidental costs such as transport of new animals from market, veterinary costs, a proportion of JE vehicle costs etc.
b) By investing in more oxen.......some as replacements for those destroyed by insurgency and some to continue making the scheme available to more families wishing to take advantage of it.
Today, as at 1st November 2009, oxen numbers are as follows:
Awoja 32 oxen 70% repaid
Aparisa 27 oxen 26% “
Olwelai 27 oxen 35% “
Otatai 28 oxen 55% “
Ajonyi 29 oxen 50% “
Obwangai 24 oxen 30% “
Eukasi 20 oxen a ‘new’ village, March 2009
Total: 187 oxen
Recent progress
During 2008 seven oxen were purchased out of repayments. However repayments in 2008 were down considerably on 2007 partly due to the knock-on effect of the appalling floods of 2007. Of late, the cost of oxen has risen quite substantially due to high demand in southern Sudan. A single ox could be bought until recently for less than 260,000 Ush/-. Sudan buyers are prepared to pay up to 400,000 Ush/- now per head due to a slow, but sustained, increase in the economy of southern Sudan.
In 2009 Teso has been again hit by the extremes of weather......this time by drought with only 2 nights of rain in some areas during the so-called ‘long rains’. For the time being it has been agreed between all parties that no further villages be added to the Project and that no further oxen be supplied to an existing village until that village has repaid at least 75% of its due repayment. At the same time FOAG has agreed to delay the schedule for repayments in the light of some very tough times brought on by the difficult weather conditions this year.
Nevertheless FOAG remains very firmly committed to this project. There remains a big need for more oxen in Teso and the benefits of access to them was made apparent to us, yet again, on our most recent group visit in May 2009.
Project Co-ordinator: Malcolm Rankin
FOAG visit to Ajonyi village with John Echeru speaking
Double ploughing at Olwelai village
FOAG member Iain Patton at Eukasi, a 'new' TORP village, May 2009
Ploughing at Obwangai village, May 2009
Women ploughing